Fraudulent Personal Injury Claims

by Kristen White Blogger Many times in a television series or a movie, a person may be injured but exaggerates the severity of his or her pain so as to gain a larger sum of compensation than what is due to him or her. Whatever the reasons for such actions, it must be noted that filing a fraudulent personal injury claim can have serious consequences. The extent of the consequences are far reaching and may include criminal charges. This article will provide clarity as to what constitutes a fraudulent personal injury claim and discuss the consequences of filing a fraudulent personal injury claim.

What is a Fraudulent Personal Injury Claim?

Personal injury insurance fraud can be defined as “an act that is intended to cause an insurance company to compensate an individual for an injury that is either non-existent, exaggerated or unrelated to any accident covered by the policy”. It is important to note that if you are guilty of fraudulently filing a personal injury claim whether you do not lie or make false representations, by simply failing to disclose information which you have a legal duty to disclose or which would be reasonable for you to disclose under the circumstances, you may be said to be guilty of filing a fraudulent personal injury claim. Some common examples of fraudulent personal injury claims include but are not limited to the following:

- Faking or exaggerating injuries supposedly or actually sustained in an accident
- Planning or staging a car theft, arson or collision

Basically, there are two types of fraudulent personal injury claims:

1. Soft insurance fraud - this is also called ‘opportunistic’ insurance fraud. It is the most common type of insurance fraud and it occurs when the claimant makes an inflated claim. For example, the claimant exaggerates the severity of his or her neck injury.

2. Hard insurance fraud - this is also called ‘premeditated’ insurance fraud. It happens when the claimant comes up with a way to make an insurance claim. With respect to hard insurance fraud, it usually involves some deliberate action; for example, intentionally causing an accident or staging arson or the theft of the vehicle.

Consequences of a Fraudulent Personal Injury Claim

If you file a fraudulent personal injury claim you may be liable to the insurance company and you may face criminal charges. This means:

3. Liability to the insurance company - the insurance company may take the following actions:

- Denial of award from a claim - this is the least possible consequence of the fraudulent acts. The denial of your claim, therefore, the insurance will not compensate you for any losses you suffered in respect of your claim.

- Cancellation of insurance coverage - the insurance company can drop the claimant as a customer. Further, fraudulent claims are reported to the state department of insurance making it hard to get insurance in future.
- Revocation of settlements or lawsuit award - if awarded any money the insurance company can request that you return it.

4. Criminal consequences:

- misdemeanor personal injury claims
- felony personal injury claims

For any information on car accident in Anchorage, contact a law firm for advice.

If you are looking for personal injury lawyers, the author of this article recommends Crowson Law Group.

Sponsor Ads

• Ad Space Available - Rent it Now!

Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

Comments